Case Study on Borderline Personality Disorder

Running head: CASE STUDY
Case Study
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author’s name

1CASE STUDY
CASE STUDY 1 – ALYSSA
Severe emotional state and delusion disturbances are diagnosed as a Borderline
Personality Disorder (BPD). The signs are extremely harder to recognize as people have
psychological stressors that create mental uncertainty, how they connect to others and how they
act. If these conditions are not appropriately treated than this can lead to severe health and
mental problems. Many BPD affected patients think of their own image inside their own mind
and their self-image and sense of self changes rapidly. They start believing that they are
worthless and defective. However, BPD patients if treated properly can live a happy and stable
life. The treatment plan is applicable to the case study of Alyssa and the mental disorder will be
described through the help of Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders 4th ed., Text
Revision (DSM-IV-TR) and will help in defining the psychological condition.
This paper presents a case study of a 14 year old girl named Alyssa who is facing severe
mental condition. According to the case study and what Alyssa said it can be seen that she is
facing certain issues such as feeling lonely or fear of abandonment; unstable relationships with
family members and friends; she has self-harming, suicidal behavior, self-destructive behavior;
she has unclear self-image calling herself short, fat and ugly which is false. All of these
symptoms co-relate with the symptoms of BPD, but it is being challenging for the use of the term
“borderline” in describing this illness. People with borderline personality problems may fluctuate
between anger and anxiety or between depression and emotional feelings.
Research shows that people with Borderline personality disorder often suffer aversive
stress that is often caused by perceived refusal, loneliness and perceived failure.

2CASE STUDY
According to me as an appointed therapist, Alyssa might be facing such disorders
because she is of such a small age. During childhood children do face many circumstances due to
which they undergo development but only 1 out of 10 fail to develop in a normal way and their
surroundings put negative impact on their thinking. According to the case study she has been
showing such emotions after she travelled back from Brisbane to her hometown. Since Diane
(Alyssa’s mother) was a working lady so she could not stay back at home every time, which
must have made Alyssa lonely. Leaving back her newly made friends back in Brisbane must
have put the fear of losing into the mind of Alyssa. This could have led to the fear of
abandonment of her mother into her head and same impact must have been the caused for her
grandparents. Such kind of stress and fear of losing the favorite ones must have put a negative
impact on her. These reasons could have led to more severe circumstances such as feeling
worthless and declining her self-image and this lead to self-destructive behavior.
According to studies, compared to different mental disorders the cause of borderline
personal disorder is not clearly understood. In accordance with the surrounding influence there
are certain other factors also that can lead to mental disorders such as genetics or brain
abnormalities. The negative effects precise to borderline personal syndrome can be grouped into
four types – self-destructive feelings, extreme feelings for someone, lack of identity, feelings of
victimization. They often feel good or bad, usually after dissatisfaction or anticipating the fear of
losing someone.
This mental disorder was once conceived of as an incurable condition, but an increasing
amount of evidence-based psychotherapeutic therapies can now efficiently treat borderline
personality disorder (BPD). The therapy strategy is centered on psychotherapy, with medication

3CASE STUDY
having a small part in this process when studying the DSM-IV-TR for the person’s diagnosis.
The analysis of the patient conditions will shape the basis of the therapy plan.
Management of BPD can help in learning new skills and abilities which can be effective
against the condition. It is also necessary to treat any other psychological conditions that happen
in intervals laterally with BPD, such as unhappiness or abuse of substance. With cure, the
individual can live a happy and more stable life.
Psychotherapy which is also called as talk therapy is an important treatment approach for
BPD. There are various types of therapies to different mental disorder but it all depends on the
patient’s individual needs. Through psychotherapy an individual can focus on their respective
ability to work properly, will help in handling emotions in severe situations. There are various
types of psychotherapy -
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a feasible type of treatment. Dialectical
Behavioral Therapy was devised to treat mental disorders like Borderline personality disorders
and represents a contemporary variety of cognitive therapy (Clarkin & Kernberg, 2015).
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is one of the most well-known, well researched and widely
available evidence based treatment for conditions like borderline personality disorders. Through
clinical researches it was seen that people with suicidal personality disorder failed to improve
through cognitive behavioral therapy intervention and due to which DBT was developed. DBT
incorporates the notion of dialectics and a strategy that focuses on skill accretion and behavioral
shaping. DBT implies that people with BPD can improve their tolerance and interaction with
others by acquiring abilities that improve understanding and allow them to accept more hardship,
control their feelings and maintain their relationships (Carpenter & Trull, 2013). DBT formulates